Bridgeport Ed Board tackles teacher absences

Updated 11:49 pm, Tuesday, July 31, 2012

BRIDGEPORT -- The city's state-appointed school board is poised to adopt a policy that seeks to control teacher absences.

The policy doesn't alter the teacher contract that since 1967 has allowed city teachers up to 15 paid sick days each school year, but spells out the steps teachers and their principals must take to document and deal with unanticipated absences.

The effort comes after a release of data from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights earlier this year that found in the 2009-10 school year, 969 of 1,146 classroom teachers -- 84.6 percent -- were absent at least 10 times.

Acting Chief Administrative Officer Sandra Kase told the school board that the district has to make sure expectations are spelled out.

"I would say 90 percent of teachers in Bridgeport have no issues with respect to attendance, but there are a number who do, and they raise the rate," said Kase.

"If they are abusing it, well, we're not hired to abuse the system," he said.

Union leaders worked with staff to come up with a policy that Peluchette said does not violate the union contract. It also adds no new penalties, but spells out the protocol for calling in sick and the procedures principals must follow to warn or reprimand teachers who are chronically absent. It says teachers with good attendance -- four absences a year or fewer -- should have it considered during job performance evaluations.

The document went through three drafts before reaching the board.

"It protects the teacher as much as the district. Some teachers are out four days in a year and get called in by a principal for excess absences," Peluchette said.

The language mirrors a policy in place for city employees, he said, and sets ground rules for when teachers are chronically ill, on family leave or under workers' compensation. Under the policy, teachers have to report unscheduled absences through an online time and attendance system at least 30 minutes before the start of school. Warnings could be issued to teachers who have six or more unscheduled absences during a school year or have absences that consistently fall on Fridays, Mondays or adjacent to holidays.

Kase said the policy emphasizes the critical importance of teachers being in school. "Teachers will understand while there are sick days, they are not meant to be used simply because they are there. They are there if they need them."

"I am pretty sure it is not unique," said Nick Caruso, a CABE spokesman. "In a policy, you can set expectations and link it to educational needs. I can't say we recommend it, but I would say we do agree it is important to maximize effective teaching by having consistency. It is not out of order to establish that as a priority," he said.

Board member David Norton said the new standard may not seem aggressive, but is better than nothing at all.

The board is set to vote on the new policy at its Aug. 13 meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Aquaculture School, 60 St. Stephens Road.